Ferencvaros and AZ Alkmaar have a lot riding on the events of Thursday's Europa League final round of games when both clubs battle at the Groupama Arena.
The hosts, occupying a playoff place, could be eliminated, while their Dutch opponents could advance to the round of 16 automatically as they face off with a Hungarian side for the first time in Europe.
Match preview
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Robbie Keane takes charge of his first home game since replacing Pascal Jansen at the turn of the year, keen to record a positive outcome after last week's 2-0 defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt on his European bow with the Budapest outfit.
Losing in the penultimate game of the inaugural league phase of the competition left Ferencvaros 22nd in the 36-team table — assuring them of a playoff place as one of the unseeded sides.
While the hosts cannot finish in the top eight, victory for the Hungarian giants could see Keane's men end between ninth and 16th to progress as one of the seeded teams in the knockout phase playoffs.
Given the Greens' home record — two wins from three, with Tottenham Hotspur's 2-1 success in October the only dropped points — supporters will push their side to record a third consecutive victory at the Groupama Arena in Europe.
Conversely, another home disappointment could cost the FTC their European place, with their nine points one clear of Porto in 25th, two better than Twente and Braga (seven) and three more than Hoffenheim and Maccabi Tel Aviv on six.
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Maarten Martens's AZ will be aware of the home side's situation, even if they hope to be the first travelling club since Spurs to beat FTC on home soil since early October and only the third since the start of 2024 — Olympiacos notched a 1-0 success in February last year.
However, the Dutch side have not been impressive travellers on the continent, especially in the Europa League, where six of the previous eight away matches have ended in defeats (one win, one draw).
It will be fascinating to see how the Europa League's youngest side — the Eredivisie outfit's average age of their starting XIs is 23 years and 351 days — fare against strong hosts, but a positive outcome is imperative to have a chance of guaranteed participation in the last 16.
The Cheese Farmers sit 14th on 11 points, which places them as one of the seeded sides outside the top eight but just a point ahead of a group of clubs in the unseeded places between 17th and 20th — PAOK, Real Sociedad, Midtjylland and Elfsborg — and two points clear of teams between 21st and 24th — Roma, Thursday's opponent, Fenerbahce and Besiktas.
Although the Dutch club could mathematically advance in the top eight by defeating Ferencvaros, results elsewhere must go their way given that they rank three points adrift the quartet of teams on 14 points — Lyon, Spurs, Anderlecht and FCSB.
Team News
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Denes Dibusz, substituted after 33 minutes against Frankfurt last week, could miss out on Thursday, with Adam Varga replacing the possibly missing goalkeeper between the sticks.
Barnabas Varga has notched five goals for Ferencvaros in the league phase, scoring three on home soil, and the forward's contribution could swing the outcome the home side's way.
AZ could be without Ibrahim Sadiq, Ruben van Bommel and Sem Westerveld in Budapest; however, Kristijan Belic returned for a 14-minute cameo against Sparta Rotterdam and could be involved in some capacity.
Possibly without Van Bommel's three involvements leading to a goal, the Dutch side will lean on Troy Parrott (three goals plus assists) and Sven Mijnans and Kees Smit (two apiece) in varying capacities to be decisive in Hungary.
Ferencvaros possible starting lineup:
Varga; Makreckis, Cisse, Gartenmann, Gustavo; Maiga, Fani, Ben; Borges, Varga, Traore
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Owusu-Oduro; Maikuma, Goes, Penetra, Wolfe; Koopmeiners, Clasie; Poku, Mijnans, Lahdo; Parrott
We say: Ferencvaros 2-1 AZ Alkmaar
AZ's away losses in this year's Europa League phase have been at Athletic Club and Spurs, clubs playing in superior divisions, although they blew a two-goal lead against eliminated Ludogorets.
While the Dutch side are superior on paper, Ferencvaros' lack of a safety net for progressing regardless of the result could see the hosts push extra hard for a positive outcome at the Groupama Arena, thus edging the Eredivisie club.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
